A resident in HCMC gets a shot of a Covid-19 vaccine. Pharmaceutical manufacturer Pfizer has pledged to supply 20 million doses of the Pfizer Covid-19 vaccine for Vietnam to administer children aged 12-18 – PHOTO: VNA

HCMC - Pharmaceutical manufacturer Pfizer has pledged to supply 20 million doses of the Pfizer Covid-19 vaccine for Vietnam to administer children aged 12-18, according to the negotiation results of a meeting between Vietnam’s national health authority and Pfizer.

Minister of Health Nguyen Thanh Long today, July 14, joined an online meeting with John Paul Pullicino, general director of Pfizer Vietnam Company, the local media reported.

At the meeting, Pfizer said that it ensures the provision of 20 million vaccine doses for Vietnam in the final quarter of this year so that the country can promptly launch a vaccination drive for its children. Vietnam currently has some nine million children at the age of 12-18.

Also, the pharmaceutical manufacturer will offer around one million doses of the Pfizer vaccine to Vietnam this month, and 3.4 million doses in August and September. Further, around 27 million remaining doses that Vietnam had ordered will be shipped to the country in the final quarter of the year.

Accordingly, aside from the 20 million vaccine doses for local children, Pfizer will supply a total amount of some 50 million doses of the Pfizer vaccine to Vietnam.

The two sides at the meeting also discussed Pfizer’s vaccine supplying plans in 2022 as well as its plans to transfer vaccine production technology to Vietnam or develop a Covid-19 vaccine manufacturing plant in the country.

The Pfizer representative said that Pfizer will make efforts to supply the ordered vaccine doses to Vietnam as pledged, despite the global shortage of Covid-19 vaccines. It will continue studying the use of Covid-19 vaccine for children younger than the given age and pregnant women.

The two parties will closely coordinate to ensure the vaccine is used effectively in Vietnam.

With the pledged amount of the vaccine doses, Pfizer is Vietnam’s biggest vaccine supplier at present, followed by AstraZeneca with 30 million doses, excluding the vaccine doses provided through the COVAX Facility. However, Pfizer is the only supplier of Covid-19 vaccine for children in the country.